Directed by Jennie Livingston and filmed in the mid to late 80s, Paris Is Burning (1990) is a cult documentary that focuses on the New York City drag scene of the 80s; its drag balls, vogue culture, and the various characters and groups that helped to make the drag scene what it is today. Paris Is Burning showcases the lively nature of these drag balls, and the fascinating people – queens, kings, and observers – that surround them. Fans of Ru Paul’s Drag Race and other camp pop culture tidbits may be aware of drag terminology such as ‘fierce’ and ‘throwing shade’, but Paris Is Burning shows where those terms came from – a genuinely, fiercely proud scene that grew up out of nothing, to incorporate groups (or, houses) of drag queens, and to then become a social and cultural phenomenon.

This is one pretty amazing documentary. Shot in a…